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| Credit : Unsplash |
Voice AI company ElevenLabs announced today that it has successfully raised $500 million in a new funding round led by Sequoia Capital, which also participated in the startup’s previous secondary round through a tender. Voice AI model providers are an attractive target for investors and big tech companies. In January, rival Deepgram raised $130 million from AVP at a $1.3 billion valuation, while Google hired top talent from voice model company Hume AI, including CEO Alan Cowen
Sequoia partner Andrew Reed will join the company’s board.The latest funding round has elevated ElevenLabs' valuation to $11 billion, more than tripling its worth since the last round in January 2025.
Earlier this year, the Financial Times reported that the startup was aiming to raise funds at this valuation.
Existing investor a16z has significantly increased its investment, quadrupling its amount, while Iconiq, which led the last round, has tripled its investment. Other prior investors, including BroadLight, NFDG, Valor Capital, AMP Coalition, and Smash Capital, also participated in this round. New investors include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Evantic Capital, and Bond.
ElevenLabs plans to disclose additional investors later in February, potentially including strategic partners. To date, the company has raised over $781 million and intends to use the new funding for research and product development, as well as for expansion into international markets such as India, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, and Mexico.
Co-founder Mati Staniszewski indicated that ElevenLabs may explore developments beyond voice, including video integration.
In January, the company announced a partnership with LTX to produce audio-to-video content.
“The intersection of models and products is critical – and our team has proven, time and again, how to translate research into real-world experiences. This funding helps us go beyond voice alone to transform how we interact with technology altogether." he said
"We plan to expand our Creative offering – helping creators combine our best-in-class audio with video and Agents – enabling businesses to build agents that can talk, type, and take action,” he added.
This will be a game changer for creators such as podcasters, artist and writers who are interested in making their works more professional.
